Saturday, 27 June 2009

At Capilla San Blas the Way divides, one part goes to Gijón, the other turns left through Valdediós. The shell signs on the marker stone (on roadside at left) face the chapel.The maize store, on staddles to keep the rats away, has not been built under,unlike the store further on.

The largest Asturian medieval monastery, with the Abbey Church of Santa María is at Valdediós. It has been carefully restored. Also in the monastery grounds is the church of San Salvador de Valdediós, consecrated in 893AD.

The walk from Valdediós was the first real test of my leg muscles uphill since I left Exeter and walked over Haldon (249mts). The Way rises 400mts in 3km, winding up the hillside. From the top there is a view down the 'Hidden Valley' to the monastery and the mist had gradually cleared to allow a photo back.

The brass scallop shells set in the paving slabs mark the Way in Pola de Siero and also in Oviedo

The large bull (toro) sign is an advert for Toro wine, seen on a number of hilltops and visible for miles around. A maize barn in use near Fonciello. The maize is hung on the outside of the barn to dry. This must be last year's crop. Nearby the old palace at Meres can be seen over the tree tops. Just before Oviedo, at Colloto, the road passes over the old Way over the bridge (Puente de Colloto). Built on Roman foundations it was partially destroyed during the Civil War when a number of Roman coins from the 4th and 5th centuries were found in one of the damaged arches. The bridge was later restored and remains part of the Camino.

Friday, 26 June 2009

Parts of the church of San Tirso el Real date from the time of Alfonso 11 (791-842). The triple arch window is original. A the front of the building there is a Roman soldier standing in a niche.Modern building works still preserve old walls. The scaffolding is holding up the old house front while new work takes place behind. This will eventually join the old facade.

Thursday, 25 June 2009

After a cloudy start, see blog for May 10th, the sun came out. The Camino follows the winding road past the apple trees near to an isolated house at Romeda. The wild flowers were further along the Way. At Peñaflor the houses overhung the road.

Monday, 22 June 2009

After leaving Oviedo the Camino passes through a number of small ‘market’ towns to which I could relate as a country-dweller! Even Tineo with a population of 11,539 (really???), does not seem that big when entering and leaving on the side streets taken by the Camino. For a country-boy places like Grandas de Salime (population 1,186) is somewhere that he can call ‘home’. Yes, there were road works with diversions and road walking in some places but for kilometre after kilometre I was surrounded by peaceful countryside.

I had (and still have) a mental and spiritual conflict over the this!

In many of the smaller villages there were ruined or neglected houses and barns. Some of them bearing the legend “SE VENDE” (FOR SALE), often in faded lettering. Time after time I thought “I could do something with that!” or “Wouldn’t that make a super albergue?” I would guess that the younger members of the family had moved away in search of education or work, leaving the old folk in their ancestral village to struggle on in the old ways until they were too old or infirm to continue. The land only lends itself to ‘subsistance farming’. Would I really want to live there with my wife and children, dependent on the vagaries of the weather. And so I find myself mired in Geo-political Theory! Re-distribution of land, namely “3 acres and a cow” doesn’t work when people see better prospects in the towns and cities.In the poem from which the following is an extract,William Roscoe gets carried away in eulogising ‘Mother Earth’.

From her exhaustless springs the fruitful earthThe wants of all supplies; her children we,From her full veins the grateful juices draw,With life and health replete; nor hard returnShe at our hands requires, nor more than suitsThe ends of health and pleasure; yet bestowsOn all her offspring with a parent's loveHer gifts impartial:

William Roscoe: The Wrongs of Africa: 1787

But what if the returns of their labour does not satisfy the longings of human hearts? What if the earth is not fruitful? What if the return is hard - very hard? What if there is no “health and pleasure?” What if farming these small holdings just doesn’t work? What would God have me do?

Well, I did say it would take me a long time to work through my ‘Camino experience’!

About Me

For links to our other blogs, click on 'view my complete profile'.
Married; we have a daughter, a son and 2 grand-daughters.
We spent 2 years at Bible College before going overseas as agricultural missionaries. When we returned to the U.K. TioT worked part-time at an Agricultural College until changing to full-time parish work.
Now retired from full time work and walking....